A lifelong resident of the Linwood section of the township, the Republican served as president of the board of commissioners and as the local magisterial district judge.

He was first elected to the board of commissioners back in 1965. Two years later he became the board president. He held that post for 26 years. After retiring, he was elected magisterial district judge and served in that capacity until 2005.

He also did something else.

On occasion he would call me.

Sometimes he was angry at something that appeared in the newspaper, or perhaps something that we did not cover that he believed merited attention.

Even when he was upset, Gaspari was always the gentleman. He had a genuine respect for what the newspaper did and the important role it has in the community.

It's a trait he shared with Kelly, who also was not shy about offering his opinion on our coverage.

In the conversations I had with Gaspari, we learned we had some things in common.

We held similar beliefs and came from similar upbringing.

I can tell you that family was everything to Gaspari. He was extremely proud of his sons, Rocco Jr. and Tom, who is now Lower Chichester Township police chief. Rocco Jr. is the president of the Lower Chi commissioners.

We also were products of a parochial school education, in particular the firm tutelage of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

After a number of phone conversations, Rocco said he'd like to drop by the office some day. I told him to feel free.

He did exactly that a few weeks later. We sat in my office and talked - not about the newspaper or Lower Chichester business - but about life.

We talked about our parents, how we grew up, the values our parents instilled in us, and the ones we hoped to pass on to our children.

"My husband was the kindest person you could ever meet," said his wife of 60 years, Catherine 'Kay' Gaspari.

She'll get no argument from me.

Rocco Gaspari Sr. was an icon on one end of the county; Frank Kelly was likewise on another.

They will be missed.

By one editor in particular.

The Kane Scrutiny hits the end of the line

It was not that long ago that a lot of people believed Kathleen Kane was going to be the first female governor in Pennsylvania history.

Today she very likely will be a guest of the state - but not at the governor's mansion.

Instead Kane will be an inmate.

She is under order to report to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility to begin serving a 10- to 23-month prison term for perjury and obstruction of justice.

Kane was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party after becoming the first Democrat - and first women - ever elected attorney general, in effect the top law person in the Keystone State.

But her rise was followed by a cataclysmic fall, resulting in her being convicted of leaking grand jury material to make a political foe look bad. Even worse, the jury agreed with the prosecution's claim that she then lied about it before the grand jury.

Yesterday a judge rejected a plea from Kane for more time to get her things in order, in particular the care for her two teen sons. That's not a surprise. Kane was sentenced in 2016, but has been free on bail pending her appeals. When the state Supreme Court refused to take up her case, time was up. She had two years to get her things in order. Clearly Montgomery County Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy was not willing to hear any more arguments. She rejected Kane's final appeal in a terse, one-sentence decree. No hearing. No explanation.

Kane must report to prison by 9 a.m.

This all started with a story leaked to the press that made Kane look bad, detailing how she pulled the plug on a state probe of corruption by Democratic elected officials in Philadelphia.

Prosecutors say Kane exacted her revenge by doing a little leaking of her own in an attempt to smear a political enemy. In the process she unearthed a trove of pornographic emails that had been shared by a wide variety of people in government and legal circles. It cost several people their jobs.

Kane's career came crashing down when she was charged with leaking the confidential grand jury material, then lying about it on the stand.

The old saying is 'you do the time, you do the crime.'

But I have to admit I'm not sure what is accomplished by putting Kathleen Kane in jail.

If it stands as a warning to even one public official that their actions have consequences, I guess it's worth it.

For now, the Kane Scrutiny is over.

Kathleen Kane is going to jail

The fight against Mariner East 2

The opponents of the Mariner East 2 pipeline are not going away.

Today they are going to Harrisburg.

A group of residents from both Chester and Delaware counties have petitioned the state Public Utility Commission to halt the project.

First, they are less than thrilled with Sunoco's plan to use an old, existing 12-inch pipe to fill in gaps where their new 20-inch pipe has yet to be installed.

Residents are questioning the safety of such a move.

They also are seeking to shut down Mariner East 1, which is already in use, and Mariner East 2 on the grounds that they believe Sunoco has failed to adequately inform the public of safety plans.

This has been an uphill battle for residents who have opposed the plan to push hundreds of thousands of barrels of volatile liquid gases through densely populated neighborhoods, in close proximity to schools and senior centers.

If you asked me, this isn't going to stop the project either.

But there is one other thing it's not going to stop.

It's the question that has hung over this project now for years.

It's at the top of the list of concerns of people who suddenly have seen this project move into their neighborhoods, sometimes literally in their backyards.